NPR Story

2:00 pm

Sat January 21, 2012

Risking The Danger Of Defection In North Korea

North and South Korea are still officially at war, even though a truce was declared more than 50 years ago. As a result, there are upwards of 22,000 North Korean defectors now living in South Korea. The journey across the heavily guarded border is treacherous and often deadly. It's been just over a month since Kim Jong Un rose to power after his father Kim Jong Il's sudden death and there are some reports of would-be defectors being shot down while trying to flee the impoverished nation. Reporter Doualy Xaykaothao followed a recent defector entering society after six months of "re-education and training" by the South Korean government.